In a time where we could all use a bit of kindness and healing, laughter is the best medicine. Song, in our opinion is a close second. Thus, we give you the rundown of the best comedies and musicals from this year’s slate of films. (Which, by the way, has yielded many excellent movies.) And now that we’re nearing the end of the year, there are a handful of features that you can tune into tonight from home, if you so wish. Comedic relief is just waiting in the wings. And it may or may not include Venom. Just sayin’.
Has To All The Boys: Always and Forever burst your heart yet? How about something that’ll make you cry laughing tears, like Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar? (Seriously: Kristen Wiig makes everything better. So does Jamie Dornan. Trust us.) If you’re a little tougher to crack, the rest of this year’s slate has been pretty damn good. We got an adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. Plus, a Miranda-made animated musical, if that’s not enough LMM for you. Whatever you’re into, you’ll find something to look forward to here with our list of the best comedies and musicals of 2021.
Red Rocket
One of the year’s best film surprises, Red Rocket tells the story of a down-on-his-luck porn star who returns to his hometown. Antics ensue. Plus, in what you can always expect from Sean Baker’s work (he previously directed The Florida Project and Tangerine), a ton of heart.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Venom? A comedy? Yep. A dark (like, very dark) comedy, but still, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was most definitely written to make you spit popcorn out of your mouth, cackling. We’ll never get tired of Eddie and Venom’s love affair, which included the symbiote kindly making breakfast for his host.
Dear Evan Hansen
Sure, Dear Evan Hansen wasn’t a perfect film, and it didn’t quite live up to the level of success it aimed for. But we’ll hang with Amy Adams and sing a couple tunes with Ben Platt any day.
Luca
Luca is 2021’s newest entry into the sweet comedy canon. An animated film suitable for the whole family, Luca follows a boy of the same name on a Mediterranean adventure. There, he meets Alberto, a new friend with whom he discovers a shocking surprise—when the two are in water, they become mermaids. Mermen? Merboys? No matter the term, the sweet film about friendship is one of the lightest and friendliest movies of the year.
Bad Trip
Sure, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm took a bit of hype away from Eric Andre’s Bad Trip in terms of being a once-in-a-generation comedy of the hidden-camera variety. Still, it’s a mistake to sleep on this, which features the most chaotic first 30 minutes of a film you may ever see.
Thunder Force
Ben Falcone is… well, he’s a taste. Whether you like his style or not, there’s one thing he can’t be faulted for: giving us Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy in a superhero film. Silly from start to finish, it’s nice to see two of the biggest movie stars of our time let loose and have fun doing something a little out of character. And kicking ass while they do it.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, a delightful romp of a vacation comedy, deserved a summed theatrical run right in that early-July sweet spot. Still, don’t let the opportunity for nearly two hours with Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo go to waste.
To All The Boys: Always and Forever
If you, reader, don’t have a soft spot for Lara Jean Covey and Peter Kavinsky in your beating little heart, then I don’t know what to say. The third installment in the To All The Boys trilogy is as hilarious as it is heartwarming. Lara Jean and Peter find their song, too! C’mon. They find their song.
Coming 2 America
Nothing like a brief 33 years between an original and a sequel, right? Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall have reunited on the big screen for Coming 2 America, which shows us what Prince Akeem Joffer has been up to all these years.
I Care a Lot
I Care a Lot doesn’t particularly read as a comedy at first, but it’s a dark and twisty as they come with a hell of a lot of comedic moments baked into it. Rosamund Pike plays a pitch-perfect maniac whose sociopathic nature fuels her larger plan to con old people out of their fortunes. But she picks the wrong target when she plucks a woman out of obscurity who just so happens to have ties to the Russian mob.
Free Guy
Ryan Reynolds’s action-comedy about a man caught in the throes of, you know, being caught in a video game universe he doesn’t control was supposed to initially have a 2020 release. He was trapped a bit longer than expected, but come 2021, he’s officially Free Guy. Thanks, we’re here all night.
Vivo
Who wants to see Lin-Manuel Miranda voice a singing kinkajou? You want to see Lin-Manuel Miranda voice a singing kinkajou. Vivo will see Miranda get into the animated-movie-musical game with an original soundtrack and a cast that includes—wait for it—Gloria Estefan.
In The Heights
Lin Manuel Miranda’s first massively successful musical is finally getting the movie treatment. Set in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, the movie-musical covering three days in the Dominican-American community that was supposed to be released last year had a solid summer debut this June.
Space Jam: A New Legacy
Space Jam: A New Legacy followed a similar format to the first, but instead of MJ, LeBron James stepped in to work his way through the world of Bugs Bunny and friends.
Together Together
We’re still not quite sure how Together Together—which follows a man who develops a relationship with a gestational surrogate—fell under the radar, but the dramedy sees Ed Helms give his best performance in years.
Jungle Cruise
Don’t let anyone tell you that the age of the movie star is over quite yet, when we have Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt whirling around boats in old-timey clothes under the Disney banner.
Happily
Led by the always dry-witted Joel McHale, Happily tells the story of a (very) merry-go-lucky couple who find themselves the envy of their friends. Then a dead body shows up. Time to press play.
Justin Kirkland Justin Kirkland is a writer for Esquire, where he focuses on entertainment, television, and pop culture.
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